Lebanon PM denies that Syria interfered in his STL funding decision

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati denied on Saturday that Syria interfered in his decision to pay Lebanon’s share of funds to the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL). (more…)

Safadi welcomes US assistance to Lebanon

Lebanon Finance Minister Mohammad Safadi who is on an official visit to the United States said on Wednesday that the US is “always welcome” to assist Lebanon on the political and economic levels, according to a statement issued by his office. (more…)

Assad intervened personally to ensure STL funding

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad personally “intervened ” to ensure that Lebanon will finance the UN court probing former PM Rafik Hariri’s murder, Kuwaiti newspaper As-Seyassah reported on Saturday. (more…)

Lebanese Trial in Absentia Faces Many Obstacles to Justice

JURIST Guest Columnist Niccolò Pons, Assistant Legal Officer of the Pre-Trial Chambers of the International Criminal Court, says that there are many obstacles for the Lebanese court both in obtaining and carrying out a trial in absentia, but that it can still be an effective tool in furthering international justice and accountability… (more…)

Lebanon PM transfers funds to STL

Najib Mikati, Lebanon’s prime minister, said he had transferred its share of funding to a UN-backed court probing the murder of ex-premier Rafik Hariri, an issue that threatened to spark the collapse of his government.

He said the decision was in Lebanon’s interest and would protect the country from the upheavals shaking the region. (more…)

Lebanese PM to quit if gov’t fails to fund STL

Lebanon’s Prime Minister Najib Mikati said Thursday that he would resign if his government fails to secure funding for a UN-backed court set up to probe the February 14, 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. (more…)

Just Another Day in Lebanon

“What a joke,” I heard someone snort at a nearby table. “As if Lebanon were truly independent…”

MTV: STL funding on agenda of next cabinet meeting

MTV reported that the issue of funding the Special Tribunal for Lebanon ( STL) will be on the agenda of the upcoming cabinet meeting.

Hezbollah and its allies are dead against funding the Tribunal , but Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat, PM Mikati and president Michel Suleiman are reportedly in favor of funding it due to international obligations. (more…)

STL: Debate over trial in absentia for Hariri suspects

Prosecutors at a U.N.-backed court set up to prosecute the killers of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri told judges Friday it is too early to stage a trial in absentia for four Hezbollah members indicted in the assassination. (more…)

STL: Lebanon police must do more than knock on doors

Are Lebanese authorities doing more than knocking on the doors of long since vacated last known addresses of the four defendants, in the case against the men suspected of killing former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri?